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Category: Online Learning

The Digital Backpack. Your Resource for Online Learning

Effective Practices in Professional Learning Course Design: Course Content

Based on direct input from learners via end-of-course survey data, Michigan Virtual’s Instructional Product Development team gleaned the effective practices outlined in this blog in order to improve their course development and better meet the...

Effective Practices in Professional Learning Course Design: Assessments, Format, Structure, and Appearance

Based on direct input from learners via end-of-course survey data, Michigan Virtual’s Instructional Product Development team gleaned the effective practices outlined in this blog in order to improve their course development and better meet the...
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Step 2: How do we gain an empathetic understanding of the problem at hand?

You’ve already completed the first step of this process – immersion. You’ve immersed yourself in the problem at hand and discovered the right questions to ask. Now, you’re ready to conduct research to start answering...

Modernizing Professional Learning, Modeling Effective Practices for Student-Centered Learning

Based on direct input from learners via end-of-course survey data, Michigan Virtual’s Professional Learning Services team has modernized their professional learning for educators while modeling effective practices for student-centered learning....
Dark room with glowing lights. 8 people are looking at computers and playing a game. They wear headsets and are focusing on the screen while typing on keyboards.

Esports is coming to a school near you (here’s why that’s a good thing!)

Like anything new and growing at a fast pace, esports can be a confusing topic. Today, we will explore the benefits of encouraging esports in schools using global examples and my personal experience with Rocket...

The Case for Districtwide SEL Initiatives

After the events of this past year, administrators are reexamining strategies used to address student behavior and improve educational intervention. With students and staff returning in full to classroom environments following a taxing year of...

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How to start solving your toughest educational challenges with design thinking

In this article, we’ll walk you through the first phase of design thinking called “immersion” and show you how you can use it to start solving your toughest educational challenges....

A Competency-Based Approach to Student-Centered Learning

Creating competencies and designing flexible learning opportunities that allow students to demonstrate mastery of these competencies on their own pathway and at their own pace is one piece of designing a learning environment that is...
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Michigan Virtual Research on Online Learning in Higher Education

Research at the higher education level is well established and can provide valuable insights into online learning overall. It is important, however, to consider the unique needs of K-12 online learners as compared to adults...
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Michigan Virtual Research on K-12 Online Teacher Preparation, Professional Development, & On-Site Mentoring

Teachers play a critical role in instruction regardless of if the instruction is face-to-face, fully online, or somewhere in between. Training for working effectively with remote students is critical now more than ever and should,...

Case Study: Students Thriving Online

Students gain important life skills in addition to academic content...

What is human-centered design?

Human-centered design is focused, action-oriented, and most of all, empathetic. Its tenets are similar to what it takes to be a good educator. Learn about the correlation between good human-centered design and education. Human-centered design...

On the other side of online learning

What are students supposed to count on during times of uncertainty and change? Forced to suddenly move from a traditional face-to-face routine to a foreign landscape that doesn’t make sense, how will kids adjust? The...

10 headshots of instructors who share what they wish they knew about online teaching

All the things I wish I knew earlier about online teaching

This past year forced most teachers, even those with decades of experience teaching in face-to-face classrooms, into a brand new way of teaching–online! But what was new for many was my day-to-day work for many...

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We need to give our teachers the professional trust they deserve

While structure and accountability are critical components in the education of children, teachers also need to feel respected as the highly educated, specially trained experts they are, most of whom would not remain in the...

Stop calling it “learning loss”

I kept thinking about how negative the word “loss” sounded when describing my children’s remote learning experiences. It bothered me and made me feel as if all of the hard work done to support students...

Where Does Tech Belong in Teaching?

Meet Amy Gwizdz & Bob Harrison, an instructional technology coach duo from Dearborn Public Schools with insights on how to leverage technology to create student-centered classrooms....
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Best of 2020

A compilation of our top-viewed content in 2020, including blog articles, podcasts, webinars, research articles, and more....

Guest Perspective: The Menagerie, Myths, and Merits of the Bitmoji Classroom

Bitmoji classrooms exploded during emergency remote instruction in Spring 2020. Bitmoji classrooms are two-dimensional scenes depicting a teacher-created avatar in a drawn classroom environment; the scenes feature a variety of imaginary objects....
two children learning online in front of a computer

District Plans for Shifting to Remote Instruction in Spring 2020

Should we go fully digital, use paper copies, or use a hybrid model? How will we assess the technology needs of our students? Should we arrange for meal pick up, delivery, or some combination? How...

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